Two of this year’s biggest education bills dealing with the fallout from last year’s ISTEP test were signed into law today by Gov. Mike Pence less than three weeks into the 2016 legislative session.

Almost two years of debates are over. There will be a “pause” in sanctions for teachers and schools with students that had poor ISTEP scores last year.

Both Senate Bill 200, authored by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, and House Bill 1003, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, have a shared goal of relieving teachers and schools from the potentially harsh effects of scores that could have been widespread after the passing rate for both English and math for students statewide sank by about 22 percentage points to 53.5 percent.

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Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said since he was first elected in 1996 he’s never seen two bills travel so quickly through the legislature. Long said the bills were the product of months of collaboration among members of the Indiana House and Senate, the Indiana State Board of Education and state Superintendent Glenda Ritz.

“We have all worked together for one purpose, and that’s to have a better outcome for our schools and teachers,” he said.

Senate Bill 200, which passed the House today 97-1, prevents schools from receiving A-F letter grades for 2015 that are lower than what they received in 2014. The grade pause only counts for 2015. Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, was the lone legislator who voted no. Going forward, schools will be under a new accountability system that more actively factors in student improvement on tests from year to year.

Behning’s bill blocks the use of ISTEP scores as part of a teacher’s evaluation for 2015 unless it would improve a teacher’s rating. The bill also ensures teachers will receive bonuses or salary increases no matter what A-F letter grades their schools receive. It passed the Senate today 48-0.

Ritz said schools will soon receive guidance from the Indiana Department of Education about when they could expect to get the performance bonuses.

Pence said he was grateful to Ritz for bringing up the “hold harmless” issue last year.

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“I also want to thank Superintendent Ritz, who first called this issue as a possibility to our attention in the middle of last year,” Pence said. “We appreciate her passion for our kids, we appreciate her dedication. We thank you … for your leadership on this issue”

In a statement, Ritz said the refusal of Republican lawmakers to acknowledge the problem until this year just led to more frustration.

“I have appreciated recent momentum behind this vital issue, but it is worth noting that this issue should have been dealt with a year ago,” Ritz said. “Had we done so, there is no doubt that much of the consternation and difficulty our schools experienced in the last year could have been avoided.”

That prompted Pence and fellow Republican leaders in the House and Senate to rush two bills to ease the pain schools that would come from the state’s accountability system, which leans heavily on ISTEP scores. Schools with persistently failing grades can face state takeover, and teachers of students who don’t show test score gains from the prior year can be blocked from pay raises.

Pence started out staunchly opposed to an accountability “pause” for teachers or schools but reversed course in an announcement last fall, calling instead for legislators to spare teachers from consequences for lower ISTEP scores.

In follow up statement earlier this month, Pence came out in support of a similar pause for school A-F grades. Ritz has long supported such a pause, and the passage of these bills marks a rare political victory for her administration.

More students applied to Renewal high schools this year, but that won’t necessarily jolt sagging enrollment

High schools in New York City’s controversial turnaround program saw 1,100 more applications this year, a jump city officials touted as evidence the long-floundering schools are rising in popularity.

But overall, 3,305 students received an offer to attend a Renewal high school this year — up just 26 students from the previous year.

Education department officials said the 9 percent rise in applications over last year shows that the 20 high schools in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s expensive and controversial Renewal program are successfully turning a corner and attracting new students. The stakes are high for Renewal schools: City officials have closed or merged schools that have struggled with low enrollment.

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But the rise in applications doesn’t necessarily mean those schools will have a flood of new students next year.

One reason for the gap between applications and actual offers is that more students are applying to a larger number of schools. Students can list up to 12 schools on their high school applications, and this year the city saw a 4 percentage point increase in the proportion of students who listed all 12 options. That means students are applying to more schools generally, not just ones in the Renewal program.

Another reason more applications might not yield big enrollment jumps is that students could be ranking Renewal schools lower on their list of choices, making it less likely they will receive an offer to attend.

“If someone ranks a Renewal school 11th,” said Teachers College professor Aaron Pallas, “is that really a reflection of the change in demand for that school?”

There are different ways students can receive initial offers. They can be matched with a school on their list of 12 choices. Or, if they don’t receive a match, they can be assigned to their default “zoned” neighborhood school.

About 140 more students received offers as a result of ranking them among their 12 preferred choices this year, which a department spokesman said is evidence of increased interest in Renewal high schools. But fewer students were assigned to Renewal schools after failing to receive an offer based on their list of 12 choices, which is why only 26 additional students overall were matched at Renewal high schools this year. (An official also noted that two Renewal high schools are closing, which also caused fewer offers to be issued.)

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The spokesman added that the number of offers by itself is not a perfect predictor of next year’s enrollment, since students who were not matched to any schools during the initial round of applications can now apply again. (It’s also possible that some students who arrive to the city after admissions process ends could be sent to a Renewal school.)

Still, at some Renewal schools, the jump in applications has been significant, which Pallas said could suggest some schools are successfully changing their image. At Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology in the Bronx, for instance, the school received 945 applications this year — a 47 percent increase.

And at Longwood Preparatory Academy, which saw a 16 percent bump in applications, Principal Asya Johnson said the school has worked hard to market itself to families. The school changed its name, launched a new career and technical program in digital media, plastered local bodegas with fliers, and beefed up its social media presence. For the first time this year, school officials invited middle school guidance counselors across the Bronx for brunch and a tour.

“We have been doing a lot of recruitment,” she said. “We are constantly advertising ourselves.”

Below, you can find a list of each Renewal high school and a breakdown of how many applications they received this year compared with last year. (The list also includes “Rise” schools, which are being phased out of the turnaround program.)

So we want to hear from you: What does Carranza need to know about the city, its schools, and you to help him as he gets started April 2. Please fill out the survey below; we’ll collect your responses and share them with our readers and Carranza himself.